Scindia and Pilot, two sides of same coin

Slowly but steadily, the clock is ticking.

What Madhavrao Scindia and Rajesh Pilot wanted to do two decades back before unfortunately fading away from limelight amid untimely accidental deaths, their sons tried to replicate the model in their hope to come out as winners in Congress as organisation’s stalwarts or in their own states as Chief Ministers.

The calculations though mathematically sound, failed to find ears from Congress high command and two young sulking leaders were born.

With one already exited and other(or probably many more) on the way out, the road to bring back RaGa at the top is clear but the question remains how bumpy it’s going to be when it comes to people and their right to choose the next Prime Minister in future elections.

The Congress has a long legacy to cut the wings of its own leaders. In the past we have seen many of its stalwarts confined to state politics or systematically wiped out from their political careers.

However, the most important factor here one tends to forget is the centralised power then and now. Doing such act was easy as the leadership revolved around Mrs. Gandhi or RaGa’s father Rajiv. The opposition had an excellent but not so ruthless leader in Vajpayee.

Last 2 decades has seen legacy of state centric families which have their own cultures and high command who won’t let a piece go away anything in politics without getting its own pound of flesh. The BJP has become a full fledged political party and is no longer afraid to play the games of trade and the Congress is entangled in dynasty and poor organisational management.

With MP gone and Rajasthan on the verge, it is high time the dynasty politics review its future strategy. Maharashtra could be the next in the line with sulking karyakartas waiting for their next political jump.

The country needs a strong opposition for its secured existence but if they are indulged in family first, party next and country last as part of its political ideology, the road for redemption seems tough for the Congress, multiparty governments and vulnerable fence sitters are bound to have their last laugh to plum roles and careers.

Image Courtesy: Loksatta

Disclaimer: The blog is primarily an expression of thoughts of current political situation across states and does not justify or argue for the political behaviour of the parties or its leaders.

Nepotism ! As it unwinds..

Nepotism is the new buzzword which has triggered a war of words on social media with some defending and some going extra mile to let the world know how have they suffered. 

Nepotism is an age old tradition going across cultures, geographies, monarchies and in modern world even inflicting the corporate world.

Nepotism, as bad as it sounds, there’s always an unknown side to it and no human is spared without using it. The important factor to understand that whether it is a harmful nepotism or harmless. 

Nepotism knowingly or unknowingly begins in the childhood. Whether it’s schools, your neighbourhood, one will find a parent promoting his or her own child unknowingly   (/sometimes knowingly) hampering the talent of other kids. As parent or as a child, one fights it’s out and either proves a point or moves away to different avenues. Nepotism continues!

Nepotism need not originate from an individual and can be socially driven. A normal child of a talented parent sometimes will find it hard to come to terms with own potential. If one goes back into history of sports, an interesting story of Sir Donald Bradman’s son makes us realise that, we as a society stretch ourselves too far. His son chose to change his surname to Bradson dumping the legacy of the greatest ever or someone like Liam Botham who retired in early twenties to move to Rugby from Cricket. Many such examples in  normal walks of life can be quoted wherein the next generation has chosen its own path. But, Nepotism continues!

Nepotism, if it was the way our ancient nobleman propagated, the same has not changed in today’s corporate. What has changed, is its course and now it goes beyond family roots. Favouritism can be the new synonym to keep the control under your own pedestal. Survival of the fittest is still the rule and the one who copes up, stays back or can choose to move out. Nepotism continues! 

Nepotism, the word turns foul when it starts impacting the very existence of other individual. Promoting your own progeny or chosen one is fine but postering them without an iota of credibility and that too at the cost of others is harmful. Kingdoms were replaced with democracies, caste based professions made its own way towards skill based society. However, those who haven’t understood these ethos of life, still suffer with agenda of own and many a time we come across leaders with no credibility pushed on the society. Nepotism continues! 

Nepotism, as it means will keep coming at you and one has to find own means to survive with it. What matters is the fact, that it should not come at a cost of spoiling a childhood, snatching a promising life or most importantly compromising nation’s interest. As like ages, Nepotism continues!

Nepotism, as it means is here to stay. Harmful or harmless is our choice.

Image Courtesy: CEO World

Disclaimer: The article is a personal observation about nepotism and does not talk about any individual or a family.

The spin wizard Rajinder Goel ! A silent contributor call it quits 🙏

A silent cricketer, who could never make it to playing 11 and still regarded as one of the greatest to grace the Indian cricket walked out of life.

Rajinder Goel, a fine left arm spinner died and the news occupied a small corner of sports page today.

As cricket is going 20-20 way and new generation inclined to follow IPL heroes, spinners are to be hit out of ground. But one who can keep the batsman in his crease and have him tied up is still regarded as a top notch cricketer. Goel, probably would have been one of the greatest finds of IPL had he played 40 years later.

With quartet of Bedi, Chandra, Prasanna and Venkat, it was obviously a challenge to find a fifth place and the dream remained void forever.

A cricketer who never regretted not getting a blue cap and still wound up as highest wicket taker in Ranji Trophy by no means is a small achievement.

Nonetheless, not representing the country can only reduce the visibility but not the greatness.

Indian cricket was blessed to have Goel.

RIP Rajinder Goel 🙏🙏

Image Courtesy: Cricket Addictor
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Dragon will come ! Pushback is the way forward!

छोटा भाई पाकिस्तान तो बडा भाई हिंदुस्थान !

हिंदी चीनी भाई-भाई !

रोटी-बेटीका रिश्ता !

Sounds so much like a family saga ‘ये रिश्ता क्या कहलाता है’, but surprisingly it’s a tagline for two countries.

If the first statement cut the Indian exchequer amid partition in 1947, second made us realise that brother can turn out to be Kaurava then the latest shocker opened the eyes to a new reality that no relationship is permanent.

End of the day, we were dealing with 3 independent countries and with supremacy in Asia at stake, it was bit obvious that Dragon will have its own push when the world is engrossed in COVID pandemic.

Dragon is not used to see India having its eyes, ears and arms open, so it will come out with all its aggression, economic penetration and entice all Indian neighbours to speak its own language.

Gone are the days when the country accepted a treaty to end war of 1965 or when Aksai-Chin landed up in Chinese map even without any objection or dialogue.

The test has began now and one who blinks will be caught unaware. Till now, it was all about economics but going forward it’s going to be muscle, money, influence, unified people and sustained leadership.

The aspirations of young India are on all time high, it wants an eye-to-eye connect with the world, is not afraid and knows its rights fully well. Snatching without confrontation won’t work anymore and the political will has to understand that they are dealing with ‘New India’.

Happy to see that India is finally dealing boundary as boundary rather than finding families across the border!

Salute to Indian Soldiers and their sacrifice🙏🙏

Image Courtesy: Shutterstock

Disclaimer: The article is a personal viewpoint on the current standoff at the border and does not intend to comment on any political decision or take sides of any political party.

A Pavitra Rishta had a long way to go ! RIP Sushant Singh Rajput !

As the obituary messages started pouring in for Sushant Singh Rajput, a parallel content emerged in the media comparing the unknown warriors who sacrifice their lives day in and day out.

A plethora of emotions question the EQ of the people who go into a shock for being hyper sensitive when a celebrity departs.

The fact of the matter is that every life is important and untimely exit causes a heartbreak for all those to whom the departure or the departed matters.

We all live in cocoon and have our own world perfectly built according to our own nests. A decorated corporate professional is a non entity as he enters a hospital. A larger than life doctor would be an unknown personality as soon as he or she occupies a seat in the flight. The pilot for that matter is then a star for all till he takes us to our safe destination only to be forgotten as soon as the passengers disembark the aircraft.

We are helped by many such unknown heroes in our lives who could be our own soldiers, police, economists and many more. Unfortunately all these professions are masked by their responsibilities wrapping their names under the roles they perform. The heroes in their own fields become mere mortals outside their own profession.

Each profession has its own ups and downs and the mortal professionals find a reason to celebrate or come out of their monotonous professional or personal hazards by following and celebrating a life of public figure.

The pressure on the public figure is no different than the challenges faced by any common or decorated mortal. However the difference lies in the fact that the public figure is part of the lives of the people and when they make an untimely exit, the emotions soar on a public platform.

Let’s not compare the deaths of a celebrity or an unknown entity. Both hurt equally and impact the lives of those left behind. Life is a gift of god and may all those unknowns who protect us be blessed forever 🙏🙏

May the soul of Sushant Singh Rajput RIP 🙏🙏

Image Courtesy: BDC-TV

Disclaimer: The article is a personal expression on the exit of an actor and intends to look into the public emotions and opinion in an individual capacity.

The COVID-19 Warriors! But the Saviour professions need A strategic revamp ...

Calamity brings people together, make them realise the importance of life and most importantly let’s them know about the real saviors in crucial times.

COVID-19 has highlighted the real importance of few professions which till date were either considered as low on returns, only for dare devils or good for elite. The nurses, the police and the doctors were compartmentalised into professions based on their socioeconomic strata and only the right fit opted for such careers.

No one ever imagined health hazard can ever turn out to be a law and order situation. The police for the first time ever are in search of patients (of COVID-19)and showing a very different but human face to the society.

Nursing is another profession which somewhere down the years has lost its sheen. Nursing is no longer a profession made out of passion and is marginalised for a section of society where parents can’t afford the cost of higher education and the girls need money to support and run their poor families.

The medical profession by far is the most coveted education. However, the way the education is institutionalised, it has become a matter of extreme patience, high costs and lower returns(at least immediately) after completion of long duration of education.The generation is having a second thought towards medicine and to add to it, we also have safety concerns for the doctors in recent times.

COVID-19 is a real eye opener and has brought many heroes to front.

When the entire world is operating out of home, the above three professions are out in the middle fighting the battle for the mankind. It’s time, these professions get a boosting revamp to make the new generation wishing to opt for them as careers.

The police are torch bearers for law and order and have proved their competence in all adverse situations. However, the facilities, the political interference, standard of living and compensation are enough reasons for youngsters to turn their back towards this profession.

The number of students opting for nursing course was always a concern. By all means, this indicates that students are not motivated enough or they prefer other professions which are less satisfying but have more earning possibilities.

Medicine is still regarded as a decorated profession but the real struggle for students begin from the 12th standard onward. Number of Government Medical colleges are very less and do not reciprocate with the size of population. The compensation offered to budding doctors during internship nowhere matches the high qualification. The admissions to ‘post graduation courses’ are still not assured and students have to be ready to leave their native places for greener pastures or accept a career compromise.

Situations like COVID-19 bring the reality to front page and we manage heroes for headlines but there might be thousands who have opted for some other professions when it mattered in their heydays.

Time to open our eyes as a state and country and start supporting these heroes and also nurture our youngsters for these professions which work very closely for the future and present of mankind.

The COVID-19 has brought heroes from so many professions apart from the above. We have milkman who ensures that we can sip a cup of tea,cleaners who help us maintain hygiene, vegetables vendors, grocers and so many social workers who have helped us sustain this pandemic. Salute to all of them 🙏🙏🙏

Image Courtesy: Shutterstock

Disclaimer: The blog is a personal observation of coveted professions and does not comment on any government policies or political parties.

वाघ आणि सिंहाची गोष्ट !

Marathi poem on the status of jungle, written by me 🙏🙏

होतं एक आटपाट जंगल, खुप तिथे प्राणी..

प्राण्यांची लागली शर्यत, झाली मोठी गंमत !

वाघ झाला राजा, मागे त्याच्या वझीर 

वझीर होता खंबीर, मात्र हातात त्याच्या खंजीर !

वाघ लागला भिऊ, झाला जणु मनिमाऊ..

करू लागला म्यॅवम्यॅव, झाली नुसती ट्यॅंवट्यॅंव !

आली एकदा रोगराई, वाघाला काही सुचे नाही..

वझीर म्हटला माझ्याकडे बघ, तोंड ठेव एकदम गप !

जंगलात होता एक सिंह, वाघ झाला पुर्ण ढिम्म..

वझीराला सुचली एक युक्ती, शोधून काढली नवी क्लृप्ति !

सल्ला त्याचा वाघाला, कर सिंहाची नक्कल..

सिंहांचं कुठलेही सत्कर्म, म्हण ही तर माझीच शक्कल !

सारखा दिसु लागला वाघ, वाटलं त्याला आता आपलाच राज..

प्रजा होती मोठी हुषार, त्यांना दिसला नुसताच साज !

प्रजेने पारखलं वाघाला, सलाम त्याचा वझीराला..

वाघ म्हण की मनीमाऊ, आहे नुसताच दिखाऊ !

एकदा तरी वाघासारखं वाग, मनीमाऊचं रूप त्याग..

वाघ-सिंहासारखी जोडी नाही, वझीर तर आमच्या ध्यानीमनीपण नाही !

आटपाट जंगल कंटाळल, गपचुप घरीचं बसलं..

वाट बघुं लागलं अच्छे दिनची, म्हटलं कुणीतरी पुन्हा येईल !

-जयवंत 

Image Courtesy: Wild Trails

Disclaimer: This is a story of a beautiful jungle and any resemblance to any human is purely coincidental and unintentional .